UCA Grinds Out Defensive Battle over Alcorn

LORMAN, Miss. – Defense was the name of the game Wednesday evening when the Alcorn State University women's basketball program took on Central Arkansas, but the Sugar Bears won it at the free throw line for a 57-46 final at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Both teams made exactly 19 field goals. Though, UCA (3-2) was 19-for-34 from the free throw line, while Alcorn (0-5) was 7-for-19.
 
The Lady Braves trailed just 19-16 in a gritty first half when the Sugar Bears out-scored them 19-9 in the third to create separation. Alcorn won the fourth quarter 21-19 but it wasn't enough to come back.
 
Junior Toddriana Isler turned in a big night with 14 points and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes. Junior Jada Hargrove played all 40 minutes and ended with nine points, a career-high six assists and four rebounds.
 
Also reaching double-figures was junior Charisma Walker who tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
UCA was led by Kamry Orr who submitted a game-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. She was the only Sugar Bear to score at least 10 points.
 
After a very even first half, the Sugar Beats opened the second on a 7-0 run to go up 26-16 early in the third. They extended it to 35-21 at the 3:11 mark on a lay-up by Alanie Fisher.
 
UCA took its largest lead of the game, 41-25, after a free throw by Taylor Sells with 8:10 remaining in the fourth. The Lady Braves showed some fight and used a 6-1 spurt, highlighted by a lay-up by Walker to get the deficit down to 42-31 with 6:08 to go.
 
A three-pointer by freshman Alexia Hood trimmed it down to 53-43 with 1:23 left, but the Lady Braves didn't have enough time to mount the comeback.
 
It was the first game in eight days for the Lady Braves. They'll be back in action Friday when they travel to UAB for a 6 p.m. contest.
 
NOTES
- Isler recorded her second double-double of the year after she registered 18 points and 12 rebounds against Rust College. She notched her second straight double-figure scoring game after putting in 12 points at Northwestern State. Her 37 minutes played marked a career-high.
 
- Walker's 10 points matched her career-high and her eight rebounds were one shy of a career-high. It was her second double-digit scoring outing of the year.
 
- Hargrove played 40 minutes for the first time in her career. She entered the game ranked third in minutes played per game with 33.3. Hargrove's six assists topped her previous best of five set five times previously.
 
- Sophomore Jasmine Chambers made her first-ever appearance in a women's basketball uniform, making her a two-sport student-athlete along with volleyball. Chambers ended with two points and two rebounds in seven minutes.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Courtney G. Pruitt
Opening Statement
"We gave Central Arkansas way too many second chance points, and again, our Achilles has been our poor free throw shooting. If we would have just made our free throws we would have had enough points to win this game. It's disappointing because it was the same at Northwestern State and also in our home-opener. These games are coming down to free throws and boxing out. I know that our girls can do it, and I'm still excited about them because I know they can get it done. We can be successful, and we'll just keep working."
 
On the third quarter
"We made some changes and actually made some great stops defensively, but we couldn't put it in the basket. We were 4-for-9, but we only got nine shots. On top of that, the shots we were putting up we weren't making. Our offense came to a lull, and that cannot happen. Like I said though, I'm still excited about this team and we're just going to keep working with the young ladies. We're a new team and are playing four freshmen with a lot of minutes. We see really good things in glimpses and we just have to be consistent."
 
On holding a team to under 60 points
"Yeah, you have to be proud about that, but I wish they would have had less points than we had. We did a good job of defending, and there were bright spots from tonight. It's coming together, but we're not making shots and we're not making free throws. We knew coming into the season that we had a young team and that we'd have to battle adversity early, but if we can fight through those by January then we'll be okay."
 
#FearTheBrave